Trouble Struggle Bubble and Squeak

Edinburgh Festivals Magazine

Award winning theatre maker Victoria Melody has a habit of immersing herself into the world of hobbyists and enthusiasts for a few years before making a show about it. Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak centres around her time with the English Civil War Society. But what was to happen as a result of this project nobody could ever have guessed!

This show is so relatable. It is packed full of human stories that make you think, that make you laugh and that make you shake your head with dismay.  It is about the power of people and the magic that can happen when they come together for good.  

Victoria’s delivery is spot on. With little asides to the audience, credits to her own humour and more than a touch of self-depreciation, you are on her side from the outset. Her drive, determination and acceptance of human error has you willing her on throughout.

This is a show that spotlights the everyday hero. From seventeenth century activists to Brian the vegetable man. It pinpoints the frustration of bureaucracy, celebrates the gift of £50k worth of cheese and honours a new species of superhero beetle - with knitted vegetables aplenty!

There is a serious lesson embedded in Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak, one we could all learn from. When wrapped up in the most entertaining of formats it is one that the widest of audiences will remember for a long time.